ALPHA-2,3-SIALYLTRANSFERASE TYPE 3N AND ALPHA-1,3-FUCOSYL-TRANSFERASETYPE-VII ARE RELATED TO SIALYL LEWIS(X) SYNTHESIS AND PATIENT SURVIVAL FROM LUNG-CARCINOMA

BACKGROUND. Biosynthesis of sialyl Lewis(x) (sLe(x)) requires a sialyl transferase for alpha-2,3-sialylation and a fucosyltransferase for alp ha-1,3-fucosylation. To date, five human alpha-1,3-fucosyltransferase (Fuc-T) genes and five human alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase (ST) genes ha ve been cloned. However, it is not known which enzyme is mainly respon sible for sLe(x) synthesis. METHODS. Three hundred thirteen patients w ith nonsmall cell lung carcinoma who had a curative tumor resection we re the subjects of this study. Using tumor tissues fixed in formaldehy de, amplification of genomic DNA of Fuc-T and ST was performed by PCR and correlated with sLe(x) staining and patient prognosis. RESULTS. Th e frequency of strong ST3N and Fuc-TVII amplification was significantl y higher than that of STZ, ST4, Fuc-TIII, Fuc-TV, and Fuc-TVI amplific ation (P < 0.01). The frequency of sLe(x) staining was similar to ST3N and Fuc-TVII amplification. Survival of the patients whose tumors had strong amplification of both ST3N and Fuc-TVII was significantly shor ter than that of patients whose tumors had no amplification of either gene (P < 0.01). In a multivariate analysis of survival, Fuc-TVII rema ined a statistically significant prognostic factor. CONCLUSIONS. In lu ng carcinoma, ST3N and Fuc-TVII may both be related to sLe(x) synthesi s, and Fuc-TVII is a more important indicator of poor prognosis. (C) 1 997 American Cancer Society.